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Developers can now use ChatGPT through OpenAI’s API
Developers who wish to take advantage of the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT and the speech-to-text model Whisper can do so through OpenAI’s API, the firm declared on its website on March 1.
According to OpenAI, “Through a series of system-wide optimizations, we’ve achieved 90% cost reduction for ChatGPT since December: we’re now passing through those savings to API users”.
In addition to this, OpenAI said that with the open-source Whisper large-v2 model, users can access “faster and cost-effective results”, also the ChatGPT model is constantly improving.
Moreover, OpenAI declared that “The ChatGPT model family we are releasing today, gpt-3.5-turbo, is the same model used in the ChatGPT product. It is priced at $0.002 per 1k tokens, which is 10x cheaper than our existing GPT-3.5 models”.
The AI firm indicated that several businesses, including the creator of Snapchat, Snap Inc., had already made use of its API to provide services to customers, such as launching a chatbot called ‘My AI for Snapchat’. Other users include Quizlet, Instacart, Shopify’s Shop, and Speak.
China holds ‘stunning lead’ over US in competition for key technology
A security think tank reported on Thursday that China holds an “impressive advantage” in 37 of 44 crucial and advanced technologies, as Western democracies fall behind in global research production. According to a study conducted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), it was found that in certain areas, China is the home to the top 10 research institutions globally.
The United States State Department-funded study discovered that the U.S. was usually second-placed, even though it was at the forefront of global research in high-performance computing, quantum computing, small satellites and vaccines.
The report mentioned “Western democracies are losing the global technological competition, including the race for scientific and research breakthroughs,” urging greater research investment by governments. The report recommended that democratic countries should work together more frequently to secure supply chains and “take decisive action in developing strategic critical technologies”.
Apple blocks update to email app with ChatGPT tech
Yesterday, on March 2, Blix’s Ben Volach said that “Apple has blocked the BlueMail update and continues to treat BlueMail unfairly and to discriminate against us”. He also mentioned that “Other GPT-powered apps seem not to be restricted”.
Apple refused to accept the app update last week, requesting that the company which owns BlueMail adjust the age rating for users 17 and above or introduce content filtering, since BlueMail may contain content that is not suitable for everyone, based on a document viewed by Reuters.
“We want fairness. If we’re required to be 17-plus, then others should also have to,” Volach tweeted also he added that that there are other apps on Apple’s app store which claim to offer ChatGPT-like features but without age restrictions. Apple stated that developers have the chance to dispute any rejections through the App Review Board process.


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It’s no secret that the recent worldwide economic downturn has seriously affected motorcycle sales, sending them plunging by a third. Now here in the United States, it’s become a common thing to see executives at big firms take huge bonuses, even when the… Continue reading
The global recession just keeps on hurting. Yamaha Motor Company announced that they have some problems, financially, and they substantially cut their profit forecast for the year.

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The Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC), a joint effort between the USDA, FDA and CDC, has come out with its findings of the causes of foodborne illnesses in 2013. That year, Salmonella illnesses were broadly attributed to a wide variety of foods: E. coli O157 illnesses were most often associated with vegetable row crops (e.g., leafy greens) and beef; Listeria illnesses were most often linked to fruits and dairy products; and non-dairy Campylobacter illnesses were most often attributed to chicken.
IFSAC’s latest study, “Foodborne illness source attribution estimates for 2013 for Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes (Lm), and Campylobacter using multi-year outbreak surveillance data, United States,” was compiled with disease data stretching from 1998 through 2013. The latest study was released at the end of December 2017. IFSAC’s study uses data compiled from FDA, USDA and CDC.
Based on a new method first used for 2012, IFSAC developed foodborne source attribution estimates using outbreak data from 1998 through 2013 for four priority pathogens: Salmonella, E. coli O157, Lm and Campylobacter. IFSAC derived the estimates for 2013 using the same method as for 2012 estimates—with some modifications.
The data came from 1,043 foodborne disease outbreaks that occurred from 1998 through 2013. The method relies heavily on the most recent five years of outbreak data (2009-2013). Foods are categorized using a scheme IFSAC created to classify foods into 17 categories that closely align with US food regulatory agencies’ classification needs.
While 2013’s study was based on the approach taken for 2012, one important change was made, and that was related to dairy and Campylobacter.
“Based on outbreaks through 2012, our point estimate was that about 66 percent of foodborne campylobacteriosis was due to dairy products,” says Michael Batz, operations research analyst, FDA.
This result was driven by the fact that the majority of Campylobacter outbreaks in the data were associated with unpasteurized fluid milk.
“We recognized that raw milk is a high-risk product that causes a great number of outbreaks and outbreak illnesses,” adds Batz. “However, raw milk is not widely consumed by the general population. Our goal in this effort is to estimate attribution from outbreaks to non-outbreak illnesses—that is, we want to say something about overall diseases in the population based on outbreaks.”
IFSAC concluded that in this case, the high numbers of raw milk outbreaks likely over-represent the dairy category generally as a source of overall (that is, non-outbreak) campylobacteriosis. This is in line with other foodborne illness studies.
IFSAC identified 2,919 outbreaks that occurred from 1998 through 2013 and that were confirmed or suspected to be caused by the four pathogens covered in this report. Of these, 88 outbreaks with multiple confirmed or suspected etiologies were excluded. Further, IFSAC excluded 1,083 outbreaks with a confirmed or suspected implicated food, 702 outbreaks for which the food vehicle could not be assigned to one of the 17 food categories and three that occurred in a US territory.
The resulting dataset included 1,043 outbreaks in which the confirmed or suspected implicated food or foods could be assigned to a single food category. The numbers include: 638 caused or suspected to be caused by Salmonella, 203 by E. coli O157, 26 by Lm and 176 by Campylobacter.
Estimated Salmonella and Campylobacter illnesses were more widely distributed across food categories than illnesses from E. coli and Lm. Most of the illnesses for the latter two pathogens were attributed to two food categories. For most pathogens, the credibility intervals overlapped to categories with the highest attribution percentages, indicating no statistically significant difference among them.
As noted, Salmonella illnesses spanned multiple food categories. More than 75 percent were attributed to seven food categories, including seeded vegetables (e.g., tomatoes), eggs, chicken, other produce (e.g., nuts), pork, beef and fruits. More than 75 percent of E. coli illnesses were most often linked to vegetable row crops and beef. More than 75 percent of Lm illnesses were most often linked to fruits and dairy products, but the rarity of Lm outbreaks makes these estimates less reliable than those for the other pathogens.
To download the study, visit:


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Verizon Confident 5G Concerns in Aviation Will Be Resolved
Wireless giant expects to spend about $10 billion over several years to expand 5G services using recently licensed radio spectrum
Verizon Communications Inc. said limits on its 5G expansion haven’t hurt its ability to connect customers, though the wireless company is still waiting for firm government rules on where its signals can reach in the months ahead.
Chief Executive Hans Vestberg said Tuesday that the company already covers 95 million people with the high-speed service despite temporary cell-signal limits near airport runways. The cellphone carrier and rival AT&T Inc. have faced pushback from U.S. air-safety regulators in recent months as they expand their fifth-generation networks to include new C-band frequencies, which provide faster internet speeds and more network capacity to address dense clusters of subscribers.
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During my latest trip down SoHo’s Silicon Alley, I stopped in for a visit with DigitalOcean’s CEO and co-founder Ben Uretsky. Ben and his partners launched the cloud hosting startup in 2011 before graduating from the TechStars accelerator the following summer.
Entering his office, Uretsky made sure to point out a scanned image of a check that sits mounted in a frame near his view of the Chrysler Building and lower Manhattan’s water tower-adorned rooftops.
The check is for $3.2 million and it is from 5th Avenue's IA Ventures. It is the first round of funding that DigitalOcean has received and is thanks in part to a client base that includes the likes of Nike and more than half a million cloud servers deployed.
Though it took about two years to gain VC backing, Uretsky sees the wait as a positive which now gives the post-funding chapter of his company’s career even more potential. “We got to (this point by) bootstrapping the company. I think it instilled the right values,” Uretsky told me “But at the same time we can bring on board an institutional investor (which) speaks volumes to everyone else.”
DigitialOcean acquired its first customers in March of 2012 and has since doubled the capacity of its servers. The company had nearly notched 3,000 customers as of January before things “spiraled out of control,” according to Uretsky. “We (saw) this gigantic growth just month over month.”
Charging $5 per month for basic packages, developers can access 512 MB of memory, one core, one 20 GB SSD disk and one TB transfer. The most expensive package will run a client $960 per month and provides 96 GB of memory, 24 cores, 960 GB of SSD and 10 TB of transfer.
DigitalOcean will be using some of its new funding to pay for staff, which has grown to 30 people from 12 last year, and to expand its office space.


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New research from Aussie indie digital agency, Sparro, highlights the biggest challenges and opportunities facing Australian brands, as marketers across all industries adapt to the ongoing changes brought about by the uncertainty of 2020.
Economic downturn and remaining agile in a post COVID-19 world are considered the biggest issues facing businesses, with data protection (21 per cent), keeping on top of changing laws and regulations linked to COVID-19 (18 per cent) and remaining meaningful to customers (18 per cent) also cited as top concerns.
But it’s not all doom and gloom – 2020 has arguably presented unique opportunities for businesses and the majority of marketers believe their brand perception has improved this year, suggesting the upheaval brought about by bushfires, lockdowns and the Black Lives Matter movement has helped foster greater brand purpose and stronger relationships with customers.
The study surveyed more than 200 marketing decision makers working in companies with more than 20 employees.
According to the survey, changing consumer habits as a result of the pandemic are believed to be one of the biggest opportunities for Australian brands, followed by changing media consumption habits (31 per cent) and Facebook and Instagram’s new e-commerce platform.
Sparro Founding Partner, Cam Bryant, said the findings reiterate that despite this year’s challenges, 2020 has ultimately provided a climate for brands to emerge stronger and better prepared for future digital, environmental and political disruption.
“The events of 2020 have forced brands to jump ahead of their digital agendas, rethink their purpose and shake up their marketing approach to stay on top of the incredible shift and speeding up of consumer behaviour that’s transpired over the past six months.
“Not surprisingly, the brands with the biggest competitive advantage were a step ahead. They were agile, digital-first businesses that had strong culture and leadership. They practised customer-first product and service design before isolation required it, and they’re reaping the benefits as a result.
“But COVID-19 hasn’t only benefited brands’ digital agendas. It’s also made way for a new wave of creative innovation, with two in five marketers believing the pandemic has prompted greater risk-taking and braver work,” he added.
The research also shines a light on how 2020 has changed marketing needs and shaped how brands work with their agency partners.
Evolving agency relationships:
Almost all marketers (93 per cent) agree the way in which they work with their agency has changed this year
Half (51 per cent) say they rely on their agency more than ever to provide real-time insights to respond to constantly changing circumstances
Half (48 per cent) rely on their agency’s digital expertise more than ever while 40 per cent say the way in which they work with their agency has become more dynamic
Changes to marketing needs
More than three quarters (76 per cent) say the upheaval caused by COVID-19 has changed their businesses’ marketing needs with increased need for brand strategy (49 per cent), content marketing (48 per cent) and digital expertise (46 per cent) cited as the most common changes
Digital in focus
When thinking about marketing budgets for 2021, marketers are prioritising digital (56 per cent), performance (43 per cent) and content marketing (42 per cent)
Digital channels are expected to receive the biggest lift in spend – almost 2 in 3 (64 per cent) plan to spend more on digital channels in 2021 while 4 out of 10 marketers say they will spend more on performance (41 per cent), audio (41 per cent) and PR (41 per cent).
Budgets for print and outdoor channels are expected to take the biggest hit, with more than 1 in three marketers (35 per cent) planning to spend less on these channels in 2021
Three quarters of marketers plan to increase spend with their digital marketing agency in 2021
Australian business and finance expert Ross Greenwood has signed exclusively with Sky News Australia as business editor and anchor of Business Weekend. With more than 40 years’ experience covering business news in Australia and around the world, Greenwood brings expertise to the role of Sky News business editor where he will lead the network’s business […]


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Legendary Map: Avalanche For Halo3Published by wes213 on Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Tagged: Gaming, Live Marketplace, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
Team BUNGiE Has droped the screen shots and info about the second map from next month’s Halo 3 Legendary Map pack and it's kind of sorta a remake.
When the team was asked why this map they responded with:
: Honestly there are so many maps I would personally love to see placed within Halo 3
’s DLC. And for me and others Sidewinder was one of them. I think it’s just one of many we really wanted to do. Not to mention I believe there were allot of folks banging on the door requesting it.
: Since the Halo: CE days, Sidewinder has been a fan favorite. Sure it might not be on EVERYONE’S list, but it seemed to be on the short list for a lot of incredibly vocal fans. And hell, it’s HUGE! And we needed more BTB maps.
: It just made sense. Looking back at the release maps and DLC1 maps, everyone could see that we needed another Big Team Battle map along the lines of Sandtrap, and with the Community's love of Sidewinder, it was a great fit.
: Two reasons: Sidewinder is one the most requested remakes and we also needed another big vehicle map. And maybe this isn’t the only classic we’re remaking. There’s always hope for said Internet Halo fan.
The map pack is due April 15th for 800 marketplace points and team bungie has said: "It wouldn’t be wholly accurate to call it a “remake,” but elements of Avalanche are certainly culled from Sidewinder – it has the same familiar U-shape, multiple ways from base-to-base, and a whole sandbox full o’ vehicles to play with. But there are many, many changes too."
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: Halo 3
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Consumer spending was down 0.2% in December compared to the previous month, according to data released by the US Department of Commerce on Jan. 27. That compares with a decline of 0.1% in November. US consumer spending is what drives future economic growth.
The report shows household spending for goods was cut while spending on services increased slightly. Decreases within goods were widespread and led by gasoline as well as motor vehicles and parts. Within services, increases came largely from spending on housing, air transportation, and health care.
Notably, the personal savings rate rose 3.4%, which was the biggest monthly increase since July 2022. That comes as Americans have been increasingly relying on credit cards and savings for everyday purchases. The uptick in savings reflects Americans pulling back on spending.
The consumer spending data comes after GDP numbers released Jan. 26 showed the US economy growing at an annual rate of 2.9% in 2022. The economic growth was driven by consumer spending and government spending as a result of prior legislation, such as infrastructure spending and clean energy priorities, according to a Bank of America report.
Elsewhere, though, the slowdown in the US economy has been investment-led. The slowdown in housing and business spending, which are among the aspects of the economy most sensitive to interest rates, continues to reflect the effects of prior monetary tightening, the report said.
The Fed’s interest rate hikes appear to be having the desired effects of slowing the economy and taming inflation. Lower levels of consumer spending and higher levels of savings will achieve exactly that.
This latest batch of data is one of the last readings on the state of the US economy before the US Federal Reserve meets next week. The central bank is expected to raise the rate by a quarter of a percentage point, which would mark a slowdown in hikes.


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Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak wasn’t a fan of the first Macintosh computer. He thought it was a “a lousy product.”
In an interview with The Verge’s Chris Ziegler, Woz reminisced about the early days at Apple, and cofounder Steve Jobs. He discussed how the Mac compared to its predecessor, the Lisa, the first PC to have a graphical user interface.
The story goes that back in 1982, the CEO of Apple at the time, John Sculley, was starting to butt heads with Steve Jobs. Sculley forced Jobs off the Lisa project, and Jobs joined the Macintosh project instead, where Woz was working.
“The Macintosh should’ve been a whole different product, not a mouse-driven GUI machine like it was, and the Lisa, he should’ve just waited five years, and then it would’ve been ready,” Woz told Ziegler.
“Steve really took over the [Macintosh] project when I had a plane crash and wasn’t there,” he said saying it was his opinion that Jobs wanted the Macintosh to “compete with the Lisa group that had kicked him out.”
But the Lisa needed a lot of memory and back in that day, 1 megabyte “cost 10,000 of today’s dollars,” Woz recalls. Jobs wanted to make a less expensive computer.
But “what he did was he made a really weak, lousy computer, to tell you truth, in the Macintosh, and still at a fairly high price. He made it by cutting the RAM down, by forcing you to swap disks here and there. It was a lousy product,” Woz told Ziegler.
“The Macintosh failed, really hard, and who built the Macintosh into a success later on? It wasn’t Steve, he was gone. It was other people like John Sculley who worked and worked to build a Macintosh market when the Apple II went away,” Woz said.
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|By Kevin Benedict||
|January 31, 2013 07:00 AM EST||
Also read Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Kevin Benedict’s What’s New in HTML5
Also read M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read SMAC News Weekly
Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS together accounted for a whopping 92 percent of global smartphone shipments in Q4 of 2012, according to a report by Strategy Analytics. Read Original Content
Apple was able to maintain its lead of smartphone sales in the U.S. market during the holiday quarter ending December 23, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. The report said iOS was the top-selling smartphone platform during the three-month period, as it recorded 51.2-percent of market sales compared to Android’s 44.2-percent. Read Original Content
Nvidia will build smartphones and devices with its own Tegra chips and sell them white label to manufacturers in Russia and China, according to Unwired View, citing a report from Mobile Review. Read Original Content
ClickSoftware is an SAP mobility partner and the leading provider of automated workforce management and optimization solutions for every size of service business. This newsletter is sponsored in part by ClickSoftware.
The number of smartphone shipments, exceeded 200 million globally in Q4 2012, with the annual total reaching 671 million, representing a growth of almost 42 percent year-on-year, according to mobile analyst firm, Juniper Research. Read Original Content
According to IDC, vendors shipped a total of 482.5 million mobile phones in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to 473.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011. For the full year, the global market for mobile phones grew 1.2 percent on shipments of more than 1.7 billion units. Read Original Content
ComScore has published its most recent monthly review of the top iOS and Android apps in the United States ranked by unique visitors and has found that Google captured five of the top six spots with Google Maps, Google Play, Google Search, Gmail and YouTube. Read Original Content
Read Original Content
New figures from research firm Kantar Worldpanel Comtech show Windows Phone has almost tripled its market share in the U.K., rising from 2.2 percent to 5.9 percent in the last twelve months. Read Original Content
The Mozilla Foundation is looking to enter the smartphone market, with the group unveiling two new preview devices that run on its own open-source operating system. Read Original Content
SAP's revenue in the fourth quarter grew by 12 percent, helped by strong growth in the market for its cloud applications, its HANA in-memory database and mobile applications. Read Original Content
The UK is a world leader in mobile adoption and mobile advertising. Advertisers spend more per mobile Internet user on mobile advertising in the UK than any other country in the world, according to eMarketer estimates. Read Original Content
According to Portio Research, at the end of Decemeber 2012 there were 36 million active smartphones in the UK market, and a further 47 million active non-smartphones. And according to the projected compound annual growth rate, the number of smartphones is set to reach 63 million by the end of 2016. Read Original Content
LG's first premium smartphone in years, the Optimus G, has helped the Korean company snatch second place from Apple. According to Yonhap News Agency, LG's share of all mobile devices in the U.S. rose to 13 percent in the month of December, which was just ahead of Apple's 12 percent. Read Original Content
According to Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments have increased from 490.5 million during 2011 to 700.1 million during 2012, which is roughly 30 percent growth year-over-year. Read Original Content
Smartphones running Mozilla Firefox and Jolla Sailfish will launch separately in 2013. Their impact will be small but important initially, as the smartphone community seeks alternatives to the frontrunner mobile operating systems, Apple's iOS and Android, analysts said. Read Original Content
Recent Articles by Kevin Benedict
Mobile Devices, Management Structures and SMAC, Part 1
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Web Real-Time Communication APIs have quickly revolutionized what browsers are capable of. In addition to video and audio streams, we can now bi-directionally send arbitrary data over WebRTC's PeerConnection Data Channels. With the advent of Progressive Web Apps and new hardware APIs such as WebBluetooh and WebUSB, we can finally enable users to stitch together the Internet of Things directly from their browsers while communicating privately and securely in a decentralized way.
Oct. 21, 2016 06:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,772
Amazon has gradually rolled out parts of its IoT offerings, but these are just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to optimizing their backend AWS offerings, Amazon is laying the ground work to be a major force in IoT - especially in the connected home and office. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Chris Kocher, founder and managing director of Grey Heron, explained how Amazon is extending its reach to become a major force in IoT by building on its dominant cloud IoT platform, its Dash Button strat...
Oct. 21, 2016 06:15 AM EDT Reads: 4,610
Two weeks ago (November 3-5), I attended the Cloud Expo Silicon Valley as a speaker, where I presented on the security and privacy due diligence requirements for cloud solutions. Cloud security is a topical issue for every CIO, CISO, and technology buyer. Decision-makers are always looking for insights on how to mitigate the security risks of implementing and using cloud solutions. Based on the presentation topics covered at the conference, as well as the general discussions heard between sessi...
Oct. 21, 2016 05:45 AM EDT Reads: 5,031
For basic one-to-one voice or video calling solutions, WebRTC has proven to be a very powerful technology. Although WebRTC’s core functionality is to provide secure, real-time p2p media streaming, leveraging native platform features and server-side components brings up new communication capabilities for web and native mobile applications, allowing for advanced multi-user use cases such as video broadcasting, conferencing, and media recording.
Oct. 21, 2016 05:00 AM EDT Reads: 3,907
Fifty billion connected devices and still no winning protocols standards. HTTP, WebSockets, MQTT, and CoAP seem to be leading in the IoT protocol race at the moment but many more protocols are getting introduced on a regular basis. Each protocol has its pros and cons depending on the nature of the communications. Does there really need to be only one protocol to rule them all? Of course not. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Chris Matthieu, co-founder and CTO of Octoblu, walk you through how Oct...
Oct. 21, 2016 04:30 AM EDT Reads: 3,066
Major trends and emerging technologies – from virtual reality and IoT, to Big Data and algorithms – are helping organizations innovate in the digital era. However, to create real business value, IT must think beyond the ‘what’ of digital transformation to the ‘how’ to harness emerging trends, innovation and disruption. Architecture is the key that underpins and ties all these efforts together. In the digital age, it’s important to invest in architecture, extend the enterprise footprint to the cl...
Oct. 21, 2016 04:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,707
Almost everyone sees the potential of Internet of Things but how can businesses truly unlock that potential. The key will be in the ability to discover business insight in the midst of an ocean of Big Data generated from billions of embedded devices via Systems of Discover. Businesses will also need to ensure that they can sustain that insight by leveraging the cloud for global reach, scale and elasticity.
Oct. 21, 2016 04:00 AM EDT Reads: 10,926
A critical component of any IoT project is what to do with all the data being generated. This data needs to be captured, processed, structured, and stored in a way to facilitate different kinds of queries. Traditional data warehouse and analytical systems are mature technologies that can be used to handle certain kinds of queries, but they are not always well suited to many problems, particularly when there is a need for real-time insights.
Oct. 21, 2016 03:15 AM EDT Reads: 3,836
One of biggest questions about Big Data is “How do we harness all that information for business use quickly and effectively?” Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or spatial technology is about more than making maps, but adding critical context and meaning to data of all types, coming from all different channels – even sensors. In his session at @ThingsExpo, William (Bill) Meehan, director of utility solutions for Esri, will take a closer look at the current state of spatial technology and ar...
Oct. 21, 2016 03:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,643
Explosive growth in connected devices. Enormous amounts of data for collection and analysis. Critical use of data for split-second decision making and actionable information. All three are factors in making the Internet of Things a reality. Yet, any one factor would have an IT organization pondering its infrastructure strategy. How should your organization enhance its IT framework to enable an Internet of Things implementation? In his session at @ThingsExpo, James Kirkland, Red Hat's Chief Arch...
Oct. 21, 2016 02:00 AM EDT Reads: 5,903
The IoT industry is now at a crossroads, between the fast-paced innovation of technologies and the pending mass adoption by global enterprises. The complexity of combining rapidly evolving technologies and the need to establish practices for market acceleration pose a strong challenge to global enterprises as well as IoT vendors. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Clark Smith, senior product manager for Numerex, will discuss how Numerex, as an experienced, established IoT provider, has embraced a ...
Oct. 21, 2016 01:30 AM EDT Reads: 864
Everyone knows that truly innovative companies learn as they go along, pushing boundaries in response to market changes and demands. What's more of a mystery is how to balance innovation on a fresh platform built from scratch with the legacy tech stack, product suite and customers that continue to serve as the business' foundation. In his General Session at 19th Cloud Expo, Michael Chambliss, Head of Engineering at ReadyTalk, will discuss why and how ReadyTalk diverted from healthy revenue an...
Oct. 21, 2016 01:15 AM EDT Reads: 2,911
SYS-CON Events announced today that Hitrons Solutions will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Hitrons Solutions Inc. is distributor in the North American market for unique products and services of small and medium-size businesses, including cloud services and solutions, SEO marketing platforms, and mobile applications.
Oct. 21, 2016 12:30 AM EDT Reads: 1,923
SYS-CON Media announced today that @WebRTCSummit Blog, the largest WebRTC resource in the world, has been launched. @WebRTCSummit Blog offers top articles, news stories, and blog posts from the world's well-known experts and guarantees better exposure for its authors than any other publication. @WebRTCSummit Blog can be bookmarked ▸ Here @WebRTCSummit conference site can be bookmarked ▸ Here
Oct. 21, 2016 12:30 AM EDT Reads: 9,582
SYS-CON Events announced today that Super Micro Computer, Inc., a global leader in Embedded and IoT solutions, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI), the leading innovator in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology, is a premier provider of advanced server Building Block Solutions® for Data Center, Cloud Computing, Enterprise IT, Hadoop/Big Data, HPC and ...
Oct. 21, 2016 12:15 AM EDT Reads: 3,457
SYS-CON Events announced today that Streamlyzer will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Streamlyzer is a powerful analytics for video streaming service that enables video streaming providers to monitor and analyze QoE (Quality-of-Experience) from end-user devices in real time.
Oct. 21, 2016 12:00 AM EDT Reads: 852
You have great SaaS business app ideas. You want to turn your idea quickly into a functional and engaging proof of concept. You need to be able to modify it to meet customers' needs, and you need to deliver a complete and secure SaaS application. How could you achieve all the above and yet avoid unforeseen IT requirements that add unnecessary cost and complexity? You also want your app to be responsive in any device at any time. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Mark Allen, General Manager of...
Oct. 21, 2016 12:00 AM EDT Reads: 765
SYS-CON Events announced today that LeaseWeb USA, a cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider, will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. LeaseWeb is one of the world's largest hosting brands. The company helps customers define, develop and deploy IT infrastructure tailored to their exact business needs, by combining various kinds cloud solutions.
Oct. 20, 2016 11:45 PM EDT Reads: 3,773
@ThingsExpo has been named the Top 5 Most Influential M2M Brand by Onalytica in the ‘Machine to Machine: Top 100 Influencers and Brands.' Onalytica analyzed the online debate on M2M by looking at over 85,000 tweets to provide the most influential individuals and brands that drive the discussion. According to Onalytica the "analysis showed a very engaged community with a lot of interactive tweets. The M2M discussion seems to be more fragmented and driven by some of the major brands present in the...
Oct. 20, 2016 10:45 PM EDT Reads: 11,071
The Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF), sponsor of the IoTivity open source project, and AllSeen Alliance, which provides the AllJoyn® open source IoT framework, today announced that the two organizations’ boards have approved a merger under the OCF name and bylaws. This merger will advance interoperability between connected devices from both groups, enabling the full operating potential of IoT and representing a significant step towards a connected ecosystem.
Oct. 20, 2016 10:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,096


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A Glasgow restaurant could land a prestigious prize after being nominated in the Asian Curry Awards.
The Renfield Street restaurant, which has previously scooped titles at the awards, will compete against dozens of other eateries across the country in the category, with the longlist being whittled down by online public vote before visiting judges determine the eventual winners.
Event organisers the Asian Catering Federation (ACF), which represents the nation’s 30,000 restaurant and takeaways, say the awards are the only accolades acknowledging the full panoply of Asian cuisines and that they are widely regarded as the sector’s most prestigious.
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The Asian Curry Awards cover all Asian and Oriental cuisines: Bangladeshi, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Middle Eastern, Pakistani, Singaporean, Sri Lankan, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.
“The pandemic has been devastating for many hospitality businesses and its worker,” said ACF chairman Yawar Khan,” adding, “These awards will acknowledge the sector’s resilience, innovation in the face of such adversity.”
To support Charcoals, you can vote for them via the Asian Curry Awards website here.
For more about Charcoals, you can find their website here.


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The collaboration marks the first time Eileen Fisher brings its denim felting method to an exclusive collection with a major home retailer.
“Our team was delighted to partner with West Elm because of our shared passion for creating responsibly designed products,” said Eileen Fisher, found and co-CEO of eponymous company. “With these beautiful designs, we are extending each garment’s life cycle and drastically reducing the waste that we put out into the world.”
The West Elm + Eileen Fisher Collection begins by deconstructing previously owned denim garments donated by customers of the Renew program. The upcycled fabric is meticulously washed, repaired and hand-layered into intricate and thoughtfully designed patterns, making each piece in the collection one-of-a-kind.
“Eileen Fisher leads the apparel industry in sustainable innovation and has developed a transformative technology that allows us to introduce circular design to a collection of textiles for the home,” said Alex Bellos, president of West Elm. “Together, we are bridging our shared commitments to responsible retail and great design to offer quality, artful pieces.”
Beginning Aug. 25, customers can shop the limited-edition collection of eight pieces, including pillow covers in white and indigo, red and dark indigo, priced from $159 to $169; and a lounge chair, priced at $1,999.


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As first published on Bloomberg’s Daily Tax Report.
- The Internal Revenue Service is obtaining significant records about virtual currency holders
- These records not only implicate taxpayers who sold virtual currency at a profit, but also anyone who bought, sold, sent, or received virtual currency
- Exchanges of one virtual currency for another, mining of virtual currency, and receipt of units like Bitcoin Cash can create current tax obligations
- These issues have criminal and civil implications, and IRS pressure will only increase
It is no secret that the value of many virtual currencies (in particular, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin) rose over the past year. The associated legal and tax challenges are less well-known but vitally important (at least for those looking to avoid potential criminal and civil penalties). As the April tax deadline fast approaches, one of the most notable issues affecting holders of virtual currency is their tax reporting obligations.
As noted in a March 23, 2018 press release on the issue, IR-2018-71, the IRS argues that the sale of all assets, including virtual currencies, must be reported on an individual’s federal income tax return. Based on its own review, the IRS argued that fewer than 1,000 taxpayers reported virtual currency sales on their tax returns between 2013 and 2015, for example. While virtual currencies were certainly less well-known three to five years ago than they are today, a court recently found the IRS argument persuasive enough to order disclosure of thousands of names and records.
Bought, Sold, Sent, or Received
As part of a federal summons enforcement proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the IRS will receive the names and personally identifiable information of more than 13,000 virtual currency account holders. This includes account holders who met or exceeded the equivalent of $20,000 in any one transaction type (buy, sell, send, or receive) in 2013, 2014, or 2015. Notably, it does appear to exclude account holders who only bought and held Bitcoin during the 2013 through 2015 period, or those who received a Form 1099-K. While the recent proceedings involved Coinbase, the U.S.’s largest digital currency exchange, IRS demands for records will touch many more companies and users going forward.
Thus far, IRS demands for records are not limited to virtual currency sales or transactions that actually produced a profit in U.S. dollars. This goes to a broader consideration for virtual currency holders—transactions such as an exchange of one virtual currency for another are taxable events, and what triggers tax recordkeeping requirements may surprise some holders.
A taxpayer, for example, might use Bitcoin or Ethereum to acquire one of the many other virtual currency offerings that debut on a near-weekly basis. Under the law informally known as the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, these exchanges must be reported to the IRS. If the virtual currency given up in the exchange is worth more than what was paid for it (or reported upon being mined), then income tax will be due from this exchange. In essence, exchanging one virtual currency for another is treated no different than a sale for U.S. tax purposes. The IRS will undoubtedly review tax returns to determine if these exchanges of virtual currency are being reported.
To date, the IRS has issued limited guidance on reporting exchanges of virtual currency. IRS Notice 2014-21, states that virtual currency should be treated as “property” for tax purposes. Because virtual currency is treated as property, not currency, there are several less-than-familiar scenarios in which an individual may be unaware that reporting is required. Specifically, miners and those who exchange one virtual currency for another have current reporting obligations, described further below.
Acquiring Virtual Currency and Mining
An individual can “mine” virtual currency by using their “computer resources to validate [virtual currency] transactions and maintain the public [virtual currency] transaction ledger.” IRS Notice 2014-21 (specifically referring to Bitcoin). A U.S. taxpayer must report as gross income the fair market value of the virtual currency that they obtain from mining.
In addition to having gross income to report, the IRS expects that an individual who mines as a trade or business will report and pay both income and self-employment taxes. This means that individuals mining virtual currencies may be liable for quarterly tax payments throughout the year, even if they have not sold any of the units they mined. It is essential for miners to maintain proper books and records to track income and expenses. Income is dependent on the value of the virtual currency the day it is discovered. Mining-related expenses for computer equipment and electricity can be very high and can be deductible for people conducting their mining operations as a business.
The timing of a miner’s virtual currency sale could also affect the character and tax rate of the sale proceeds. Proceeds from currency mined and held for over one year should be considered long-term gain, while currency held for less than one year is short-term gain (and typically has a higher tax rate). This is another reason why tracking the dates on which currency is obtained and then sold is critical.
No More Possibility of Like-Kind Exchanges
Like-kind exchanges are transactions that allow a person to exchange property for “like” property within six months without immediate tax implications. For sales prior to 2018, it is arguable that an exchange of one virtual currency for another (e.g., Bitcoin for Ethereum) could qualify as a non-taxable like-kind exchange. Beginning Jan. 1, 2018, Congress amended the like-kind exchange rules to no longer apply to virtual currency (or anything other than real property). Now, there is no question these virtual currency exchanges are recognition events. Because digital currency exchanges are not explicitly required to report these transactions to users on a Form 1099, this remains a trap for the unwary.
Distributions to Holders
On Aug. 1, 2017, Bitcoin Cash emerged after a hard fork in the Bitcoin blockchain. Many who held Bitcoin on August 1, automatically became owners of Bitcoin Cash coins as a result. There also have been dividend-like distributions of one type of virtual currency to holders of another type. From a taxpayer’s perspective, these types of transactions could be treated in similar fashion to stock-splits or dividends or even another alternative, depending on the facts and how the IRS construes these events. This creates yet another question of when and what amounts must be reported.
The broad takeaway is that U.S. taxpayers who have held any virtual currency should be very wary of government scrutiny. U.S. taxpayers under investigation or those who believe they sold, exchanged, or sent virtual currency through any exchange or medium should consider their options with great care to minimize exposure to criminal liability and civil penalties. With limited IRS guidance currently available, it is in taxpayers’ best interest to establish a clear reporting plan as soon as possible.


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The Business Secretary Vince Cable will show his support for a new research project in County Durham. He is due to visit the Caterpillar factory in Peterlee, which will receive a share of £40m.
Researchers at the plant will look at energy efficiency in heavy goods vehicles, and hope eventually to build and sell a new, cleaner engine for big vehicles.
More top news
A ten year old heart transplant survivor has used her Christmas list to wish for more people to join the donor register.
Wintry showers and frosty tonight, dry and cold on Sunday. Beware icy stretches developing overnight as well as fog patches
Italian vodka, suspicious sediment and antifreeze sold as spirits are among the potential danger signs for shoppers stocking up on alcohol.


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Eli Lilly Spends $2.5 Million Lobbying Government in First Quarter
According to the Associated Press, Eli Lilly and Co. spent $2.5 million in the first quarter lobbying the federal government on access to foreign markets, tax issues and a host of other topics. The Indianapolis-based drugmaker raised its spending 8 percent from the $2.3 million that it spent in the first quarter of last year. It also spent 70 percent more than the $1.5 million recorded in the final quarter of 2010, according to lobbying reports filed with the House of Representatives. The maker of the antipsychotic Zyprexa and the antidepressant Cymbalta lobbied on pricing reforms in Germany and Greece and market access issues in Poland and Romania, among other overseas topics. It also lobbied on food safety, and veterinary medicine and biologics. The drugmaker faces the expiration later this year of patents protecting its top seller, Zyprexa, from generic competition. Other key drugs also will lose patent protection in the next few years.


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As part of a continuing effort to revitalize communities and local businesses recovering from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hyatt hotels across the globe have launched more than 160 new Hyatt Loves Local collaborations. This initiative reimagines the hotel journey with new wellbeing amenities and offerings that support local wellness businesses.
According to a recent American Express Global Travel Survey, 77 percent of consumers agree that they want to be more conscious about supporting local businesses while traveling. Hyatt is doing just that and collaborating with 40 percent more minority- and female-owned businesses.
Here are just some of the Hyatt Loves Local wellness collaborations the company is promoting. At Andaz San Diego, guests can take advantage of dance and fitness classes offered on the rooftop by LR Dance & Fitness. Owned by Lovelyn Redfearn, the studio has grown 5 percent with the help of Hyatt.
In Oregon, the Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland created a self-care room package featuring My Aroma Rocks, a local female-owned wellbeing company specializing in aromatherapy and home spa products, and Aesthete Tea, a local female-, QBIPOC-owned organic loose-leaf tea company. To provide additional support, Hyatt is donating 5 percent of revenue from the packages booked directly to the two brands. Launched April 11, the package will be available to guests throughout the summer and may be extended even further.
Guests and San Antonio locals have been enjoying on-property outdoor yoga classes at Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa thanks to a collaboration with USMC veteran- and female-owned Southtown Yoga Loft since October 2020. Because of capacity limits due to the pandemic, the yoga studio wasn’t able to accommodate its usual number of clients, and many preferred outdoor classes. The resort stepped in to provide additional class space and an outdoor option. As a result, Southtown Yoga has experienced an attendance increase each weekend and has introduced one class each weekday and two classes on Saturday and Sunday for $12 a class.
Another local yoga collaboration is taking place at Montaneros in Vail, a Destination by Hyatt, in Colorado. Revolution Power Yoga, a local female-owned yoga studio, lost business for its in-studio classes during the pandemic, but the hotel began streaming the studio’s classes for free on its website for guests to enjoy from the comfort of their rooms. Guests also now have the option to attend socially distant, in-person classes in the studio. Launched in January 2021, the collaboration is scheduled to continue throughout 2021.
In Mexico, Grand Hyatt Playa Del Carmen collaborated with ROLA, a female-owned spin studio to offer beachfront classes. With multiple classes available all week, guests can now enjoy scenic views with their rewarding spin workout.
Thompson Nashville is collaborating with Invigorate Health, a local provider of IV drips to promote hydration, boost vitamin C, and improve immunity. Together, they’re offering the Boost Your Stay…in a Wellness Way package, which offers guests an IV immune boost on demand in their room or inside Invigorate Health’s to-go van; a fresh revitalizing Gulch Gulp juice packed with healthy ingredients, such as ginger, kale, apple, and more; and guest room accommodations.


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The VA is not the happiest place on Earth. People criticized Secretary Robert McDonald for comparing health-care waits to amusement park lines. » Read More
Largely the Fast Money traders aren't terribly concerned by Wednesday's sell-off. "On the dip you can buy," says Pete Najarian. But what?
Stocks skidded amid sliding oil prices and mixed earnings results after rising the three previous sessions.
Without a general sense of purpose and goals, you won’t know what ideas you're hunting for, and you'll be defenseless against the demons of information overload.
Macy's got the retail earnings season off to a strong start: $0.30, well above the $0.18 consensus. Commodities sliding. And Chinese IPOs look worse and worse.
Stock index futures continued to trade mixed Wednesday after news the nation's trade deficit widened to the biggest gap in March since last June.
Disney's fiscal second quarter earnings fell short of Wall Street expectations, on a slew of issues: some controllable; like a movie that bombed, and some uncontrollable; like, the Japanese earthquake.
The entertainment giant's slumped slipped in after-hours trading Tuesday after the Dow component posted earnings and revenue that missed Wall Street expectations.
Stocks rallied for a third consecutive session amid Microsoft's $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype, strength in China's economy, and rising commodity prices.
What follows is a roundup of corporate earnings reports for Tuesday, May 10.
Breaking down Disney's mixed Q2 earnings results, with Robert Iger, Walt Disney CEO, and CNBC's Julia Boorstin.
Stocks traded near the highest levels of a quiet session ahead of the market close on Tuesday.
Will Disney benefit from an advertising rebound and a return of consumer spending? That's what Wall Street will be looking for when the media giant reports its fiscal second quarter earnings after the market close.
Buoyed up by the popularity of barefoot running, running shoes that provide the foot with minimal support to allow for more "natural" running have gained a cult following. But now it appears that these shoes, which include brands such as Vibram's Five-Finger shoes, are being worn by consumers who aren't hardcore barefoot runners.
Stocks rose amid solid economic reports, stabilizing oil prices, and news of growth in the Chinese economy.
Google's taking big steps to turn YouTube into a true entertainment destination, and to compete with Netflix, iTunes, Amazon and even Hulu. Along with the rest of those giants, Google wants to distribute content to consumers, so it can cash in on advertising and now rental revenue as well.
Following an up day for markets, plenty to scrutinize Tuesday: from private share markets to Google's growth model, Chopotle's immigration problems to the health of the real estate market. Here's what we're watching...
If you’re bullish Disney, but reluctant to own stock that’s gone nowhere over the past 3 months, you might want to consider this options trade.
Grains rally as the dollar falls. And Options Action trader Mike Khouw looks at making a bullish bet on Disney hitting a new 52-week high, with CNBC's Melissa Lee and the Fast Money traders.
For better or worse, the U.S. economy is back on the top of the stock market's watch list, with the European sovereign debt crisis a close second.
The "Mad Money" host reveals his "Game Plan."


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Graffitis: The New Bankable Design Trend
The story of an entrepreneur and his eco-friendly business
by Nicole Kwok
Graffiti is often associated with vandalism and rebellion, but with the growing popularity of street cultures, graffiti is now becoming a booming commercial design element, especially for interior design.
"Couldn't say Hong Kong is a place that embraces graffiti as much as in the UK, Brazil, or Germany," said Hannah Smith, director of creative company Graffiti4hire. "But I think more people are changing this by subtly putting graffiti up in interiors, commercial spaces, or on objects meant for marketing use. They want people to see them as aesthetic pieces of arts."
Graffiti4hire is a UK creative company that contacts graffiti artists for customers who plan to have graffitis for their businesses as design solutions. The company launched in Hong Kong in 2014 because they saw growing potentials from emerging popularity of graffitis. Since then, they have hired six local artists and over 100 international artists.
The company's business has 2-3 per cent of steady growth every year. They are planning to do pop up exhibitions for their artists in the future, hoping to showcase their work and attract more opportunities.
"Clients range from restaurants and our commercial spaces to hotels and gyms," Smith said.
Rocky Lam, owner of New York Diner in North Point, put graffiti on three walls in the restaurant.
"What kind of art could make a statement and create the vibrancy that my restaurant needs?" said Lam. "Then came the idea of having graffiti as my major design element here."
He said the cost of putting up graffitis is at least 20 per cent less compared to other design decorations like brass pipes and lamps that relate to his restaurant's industrial, New York style theme. They help to market his business.
"I think they have their advertising function. Customers will tell me how much they like the wall and will be interested to know the concept behind," said Lam. "The graffiti has kind of become my restaurant's icon and two conversation pieces here."
"The business benefits artists to get to work on commercial projects with interesting companies," said Smith. "These give not just monetary but experiential opportunities."
Local graffiti artist, Pantone C has been doing commercial graffiti work for several years. commercial graffiti stacks up 30-40 per cent of his income.
Apart from discerning what clients want, Pantone C thinks the other key to commercial graffiti is that artists or companies need to understand local urban cultures, so they could blend personal style, client's' wants, and local vibes in their works.
"I had one client who wanted to infuse the Hong Kong style in his restaurant's graffiti. The owner was directed to a foreign artist before coming to me," Pantone C said. "He eventually gave up on the foreign artist because he did not understand and could not execute what he wanted. Localization is an important aspect that is easily neglected in doing commercial graffiti."
Interior designer, Fu Kuk-ying said graffiti is indeed one of the big design solution trends, especially in bars and restaurants. It is a flexible and authentic design option. He said construction sites and schools nowadays hire local artists to decorate their advertisement boards and exteriors too.
"The benefit of having graffiti is not just about decorating in an affordable way," said Fu. "People can also use graffiti to express their own style, showing customers what their restaurant characters and brand values are."
"Potentially, interior design firms could work with graffiti artists and provide graffiti design services to maximize business opportunities," Fu added.
(Edited by Flavia Wong)
《The Young Reporter》
The Young Reporter (TYR) started as a newspaper in 1969. Today, it is published across multiple media platforms and updated constantly to bring the latest news and analyses to its readers.
Modern paper offerings are breaking traditional stereotypes
Outcry from industrial buildings tenants


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Magazine article CRM Magazine
Hiring Reps? Get Them a Digital Research Assistant: Sales Intelligence Systems Help Shorten Ramp-Up Time
AS PART OF CSO Insights' annual Sales Performance Optimization (SPO) study, we asked the more than 2,000 participating sales organizations to share their hiring plans for 2011. Seventy-eight percent said they would add sales-people. Of that group, nearly half intend to grow their sales teams by more than 10 percent.
That companies are willing to expand their sales teams is a sign of optimism that the economic recovery will continue. However, let me inject a dose of pessimism: Hiring new reps is one thing; making them fully productive is quite another. A metric that we track as part of the SPO study is new-sales-rep ramp-up, defined as how long it takes a new salesperson to generate the same level of revenue as an experienced one. In 2003, our study found that 60 percent of sales organizations had ramp-up times of less than six months. Today, that number has dropped to under 40 percent.
This year's study data showed companies that give new reps access to sales intelligence (SI) systems have significantly shorter ramp-up than those that do not. The differences are reflected in the chart below.
SI systems originally focused on giving reps information about contacts in the accounts into which they are trying to sell. Often integrated directly with the sales system the company employed, SI solutions populated and updated contact data in the CRM application. To a new rep, this is a crucial service in informing him about whom to call.
However, during the past few years, the level of insights coming from a new generation of SI companies, such as FirstRain, InsideView, OneSource, and Zoomlnfo, has expanded dramatically. …


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Category: Corporate Responsibility
This category is about corporate social responsibility (CSR), a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. The goal of CSR is to embrace responsibility for the company’s actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere.
Alcoa Foundation donates $1.5 million in support of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides, for Together Greening and Forever Green environmental initiatives.
After a long campaign, the GMO labeling law successfully makes it onto the November ballot in the state of California which is a key battleground.
Israeli company Better Air has created a system that improves air quality in homes, offices and hospitals using probiotics, – millions of “good bacteria” – to fight harmful bacteria.
If you happen to look up into the skies over Montana in the next few months, you might catch a glimpse of the ecoDemonstrator. This Next-Generation 737-800 is on loan from American Airlines to Boeing, which is modding it out to serve as a test bed for new sustainable aviation technologies including fuel efficiency, noise … Continued
The growth of sustainability and corporate social responsibility roles or functions that have these responsibilities has grown to encompass a fledgling professional field. People want to do sustainability work and are willing to pay to be trained in the area – are there jobs out there waiting for them?
While a new campaign initiated by Two Sides, an organization representing members of the “graphic communications value chain,” wants to educate companies in the U.S. that electronic billing is not necessarily greener than paper billing, two life cycle analyses shows the paperless option is actually greener.
It’s not that farfetched – antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria are on the rise, making bladder infections more difficult to treat.
It’s amazing for one layman to come up with the idea of saving champion trees as a meaningful way to address the issues of biodiversity and climate change. This could be a grass roots solution to a global problem. A few million people selecting and planting the right trees for the right places could really … Continued
Autodesk’s 2012 sustainability report offers a compelling case of how its products can help build a more sustainable world and mitigate a company’s impact on the planet.
One of the main issues that came up at the Responsible Business Summit was sustainability reporting. Even with all the progress we have seen so far in, reporting continues to be one of the most challenging issues for CSR executives. Still, just like CSR in general, reporting has become more focused, strategic and smart, and there’s even a continuous search after its business value. Here are five issues that dominated the conversation about reporting at the summit:
While most companies reward employees with things like pizza parties, bonus casual days or time off, Clif Bar went a different route, giving all of its employees a custom bicycle. Why you may want to consider the same.
By Adam Weinger Has your company considered instituting a volunteer grant program? These charitable programs, which are also known as Dollars for Doers programs, are offered by companies as a way to encourage and support volunteerism among employees. Volunteer grants are just one of the many types of corporate giving programs, but over the last … Continued


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News came out today that GM and Chrysler seek an additional $22 billion in aid from the government. That's in addition to the $17.4 billion already committed. I just can't see throwing good money at a poorly run business. It's one thing to bail out banks because credit markets affect a lot of people. However, bailing out an automaker that continually makes poor decisions and even poorer cars is crazy. As a condition of any bailout money, I would request that all the CEOs and upper management be fired. I applaud what Ford has done in not requesting bailout money. Of the three US auto manufacturers, I'd most likely buy a car from them. Isn't it telling that the car maker that churns out the better products is the one that least needs help?
News came out last week from the Detroit Auto Show that Toyota and Ford will be looking to release pure electric vehicles (not range extending fakers like the Chevy Volt) in the near future - about 2012. It seems to be a theme at this year's show, as all other automakers were releasing some sort of hybrid version of something. The big question is whether next year's show will still have the same focus. As oil prices decline (I paid $1.89 per gallon the other day!), there will be less pressure for consumers to buy fuel efficient cars thus less incentive for automakers to develop new technologies. Do you think a company like Tesla Motors could have been built and funded in an era where gasoline costs $1.25 per gallon? Perhaps, but it wouldn't get as much attention as it does (and deservedly so, the Tesla Roadster is amazing). When you think about it rationally, there are many reasons to want to get a fuel efficient car, the least of which should be to save money. The environment and national security should be the top reasons but often times we only see what's directly affecting our wallets.
UPDATE: As a point of clarification, I don't mean to say that people shouldn't be cost conscious in these difficult times. My point is that not buying a hybrid because it may cost more initially is not a good argument. The cost of buying a hybrid versus a non-hybrid compact or mid-size car is not that great plus the savings in gas over time will minimize that gap even further. If you don't want to buy a hybrid because you need to haul kids, groceries, lumber, etc. that's fine. However, if you're waffling over whether to get a Corolla, Focus, or Jetta, buying a Prius or a Civic Hybrid isn't much of a stretch. Trust me, you'll make that money back in about 4-5 years.
I woke up this morning to the radio airing the news that the auto bailout has passed. I'm glad a lot of people won't be losing their jobs but I think we're only delaying the inevitable. The $17.4 billion bailout has provisions that require, among other things, the automakers to "prove they can restructure sufficiently" or those loans would be called back. My question is, can the automakers really turn it around? It's like a gambling addict who just needs some seed money to win back all the losses his accumulated over the years. Chances are, it's just not going to happen. And what if they don't sufficiently restructure? Would they really care if the loans are called back? They'd be in the same position they were before the bailout except now with three months of salaries paid. And actually, I don't think Congress would have the guts to actually do it. The old cry of "we can't let the US auto industry fail" will be heard again.
If the government really wanted to make a difference, they should have asked for the resignation of all top level executives from any company that asked for a loan. The way it's setup now, these automakers will come back to Congress in March and either ask for more money or time to prove they are restructuring (probably both). Why would anyone give money to a group of people who have a history of failure? This is in stark contrast to a company like Toyota who hasn't had an annual corporate loss in 71 years (they expect to end the current fiscal year with a loss). In fact their profits in 2007 alone were $14.9 billion - almost the same size as the current bailout. With a cushion like that, who needs a handout?
The Business section of the NYTimes.com site has an article about Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley electric car start-up backed primarily by Elon Musk and a list of other high profile investors (including the Google guys). The article centers around Tesla's recent request for a low interest loan of $400 million from the US Government as part of a fund whose goal is to improve US automakers' fuel efficiency. Randall Stross, the reporter who wrote the article, has a very clear message as it relates to Tesla. His argument is that Tesla is not a truly viable company and that tax payers shouldn't pony up for what he amounts to a boutique automaker that caters to the rich. Tesla is behind schedule on its delivery of the $100K+ Roadster and even farther behind schedule on its plans for the more affordable $60K Model S sedan. However, the bigger question to me, as a tax payer, is whether I think the future of America's auto industry is in the Big Three US automakers or somewhere else... say Silicon Valley?
When our family immigrated to the US in the 70's, the first car we owned was an old Mustang. After a short trist with a VW Beetle and VW Vanagan (they were cheap), we next owned a Buick Skylark Wagon and a Ford Taurus. My first car was a Dodge Colt. From the Taurus my parents went to a Nissan Sentra, then a Honda Accord, and finally a Toyota Camry and Corolla. After my Dodge Colt (I totalled it, but that's another story), my wife and I inherited a Maxima and a Camry. Our first new car purchase ever was a Toyota Prius. I remember the pride my dad had in being able to buy the Taurus which was considered at the time to be one of the better quality cars available. However, since those days of the 80's and early 90's, the quality of American made cars has slowly declined while that of foreign brands from Japan and Europe have continued to increase. It wasn't necessarily for lack of features/power/design but more for lack of reliability that forced us to move away from American made cars to Japanese. Today, American cars have the perception of unreliability, whether true or not. Given the issues that the Big Three face, I don't have much confidence that they'll be able to turn that around nor keep up with innovative companies like Tesla to deliver us the next generation of automobiles. For that reason, I choose to cast my vote with the new unknown than the old unreliable.
UPDATE: Jason Calacanis writes a very good response to Randall Stross' article. It's posted on the Huffington post.
I'm reading the details of the Big 3 automaker's recent request for a $25 billion bailout. Specifically, I'm referring to high salaries for executives in the midst of multi-billion dollar losses. It's not the amount of the pay that bothers me. CEOs and executives of multi-billion dollar companies are entitled to compensation above and beyond what normal folk should get. What really gets my goat is that the domestic automobile industry has been lagging behind foreign players for years now yet none of these CEOs really seemed to care. Instead of innovating, they decided to ask for a handout. And I'm afraid that the government will give them this bailout for fear that tens of thousands of rank and file employees will lose their jobs. The problem is that it will continue to perpetuate a philosophy of mediocrity amoung the employees of the automakers. Do you think if Yahoo was given a bailout that Jerry Yang would have stepped aside? It took the dramatic act of Yang leaving Yahoo for that company to finally move forward. I doubt any of these CEOs would do the same.
On a side note, Toyota's chief makes about $1 million a year and his company generated close to $15 billion in profits last year. I guess I should be a little upset.


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Enterprise industry experts have derided Donald Trump’s new social media and streaming video undertaking as “extremely substantial risk” and “just vibes” immediately after it introduced without a specific organization system.
Main spokeswoman Liz Harrington introduced on Wednesday that the previous presidentwill start a new social community known as Truth of the matter Social up coming yr to “fight back towards the ‘Big Tech’ companies of Silicon Valley”.
Reality Social is just one particular component of the Trump Media and Know-how and Team (TMTG), a new “media powerhouse” supposed to rival Netflix and Disney+ with “non-woke” streaming video clip and compete with Amazon and Google for cancel-proof website web hosting expert services.
The business programs to list on community stock markets by merging with Electronic Globe Acquisition Corp, a shell corporation established up to hunt and purchase promising get started-ups, in a offer that supposedly values TMTG at $825m (£598m).
But experts questioned Mr Trump’s numbers, expressing the business had offered investors minor to back up its guarantees, though Truth Social has now endured from glitches, hackers and lawful concerns.
Tristan Snell, a running companion at Mainstreet.Law who prosecuted Trump University as assistant legal professional basic for New York state, mentioned TMTG will deal with rigorous scrutiny from regulators provided the existing legal investigations in opposition to Mr Trump.
Mr Snell explained: “Trump has under no circumstances had the scrutiny of the public stock industry, at any time, till now. Fact Social is an incredibly significant threat venture — both equally for him and for any individual nuts enough to make investments in it.
“He will also have to offer with Wall Street analysts and commentators nitpicking everything Real truth Social does. He’s banking on his very own supporters shopping for the stock, releasing him from what the Road thinks. But they’ll even now rip it to shreds if it is getting rid of income.”
Mr Trump has famously stored his business dealings in personal hands, proscribing their possession to his family, indicating he is not demanded to publish quarterly fiscal studies to buyers.
Mr Snell ongoing: “Truth Social’s route to genuine revenue is also pretty unclear. If they check out an advertisement based model, are there genuinely more than enough main advertisers who will get the job done with him? He’s toxic to most of company America now – they never want the drama.
“That leaves a subscriber design, but will Truth of the matter Social continue to keep a big foundation of subscribers if the website goes offline, appears to be like janky, has no legit branded articles, etc?”
Donald Trump To Launch Social Community
Matt Levine, a former investment banker at Goldman Sachs and now a columnist for Bloomberg, suggested that the business was most likely to raise dollars from Trump supporters no matter of its overall performance, describing it as the fiscal equal of Mr Trump’s famous declare that he could “stand in the center of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” without losing any voters.
Mr Levine wrote: “You are not buying this stock because you have faith in its optimistic dollars-movement forecasts it has not bothered with funds-circulation forecasts. You are buying this inventory due to the fact you like Donald Trump and feel that Tech Monopoly Censorship Threatens Free of charge Speech.
“Cash flows, valuation, etc, are all irrelevant. It is just vibes … he can launch a enterprise with no product, organization program or funds construction and the inventory will double.”
Dan Primack, a reporter for Axios, dismissed TMTG as “a joke” and “a shell firm purchasing a shell company”, noting that it experienced not declared a main government and had no funding from outside the house traders.
Yet, shares in Electronic Planet almost quadrupled in rate on Thursday as Trump supporters snapped them up.


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According to new data from Sensor Tower, Mario Kart Tour racked up 90 million downloads in its first week. That makes it Nintendo’s fastest mobile game launch in history. Kind of appropriate for a racing game, really!
You’d be forgiven if you took one look at Abantus Saga 2 and confused it for yet another tedious match-three game. But if you can get over your prejudice, you’re in for hours of enjoyment. And some frustration. But mostly enjoyment.
The puzzle title, which is out now for free in the iOS App Store, has you sliding around colored and patterned “cubes” (they’re squares, but the on-screen text calls them cubes) to complete full rows and columns. And that’s it — that’s the only mechanic. But what the developer does with it will have you playing and replaying Abantus Saga 2 for hours on end.
Are you willing to die with your boots on? Do you know the number of the beast? If so, you’ll want to keep an eye on this upcoming mobile game from heavy metal band extraordinaire, Iron Maiden.
In conjunction with Roadhouse Interactive and 50cc Games, the legends of metal are putting together a free-to-play role-playing game, due out this summer, on iOS and Android. It’s called Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast (naturally), and will apparently include characters from the long history of Iron Maiden album art, as well as a soundtrack that has previously unheard live recordings from the monsters of rock.
It’s an age of abundance in the iOS gaming scene, with everyone from Apple to indie enthusiast blogs weighing in on what the best games are for our beloved iOS platform.
We’re here to focus on the best mobile games we have actually played and loved, rather than just the blockbusters everyone’s already heard of. If we kept a game on our iPhone for more than a few days and dug right in on a regular basis, it’s on the list.
Here are Cult of Mac staffers’ choices for the 10 best iOS games of 2015.
With over 1 billion downloads, Temple Run and it’s sequel, Temple Run 2, are the very definition of mobile gaming success.
It’s even better that husband and wife developers and co-founders Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova are such incredibly nice people. Their startup, Imangi Studios, has found the gold at the end of the rainbow, and they’ve no intention of stopping.
“Frozen Shadows” is the latest (and largest) free update to the franchise yet, giving you new characters like Guy Dangerous and Scarlett Fox to run through a brand-spanking-new ice world. You’ll also get new artifacts, winter costumes, and an absolutely terrifying new demon monkey to run from. Yikes!
“We’re really trying to expand the Temple Run universe,” Shepherd told us on the phone, “in much the same way as a novelist or storyteller would.”
At a strategic briefing for investors today in Tokyo, Nintendo CEO Tatsumi Kimishima took to the podium to talk about the game-maker’s plans for the near future, including, we hope, information on the venerable company’s foray into mobile gaming on iPhones, iPads, and possibly Android devices.
The new service — blandly called “Nintendo Account” — will connect console, PC, and smart device users in a way that has never been seen before in Nintendo’s history.
Seriously, try not to starve. That’s the entire point of Klei Entertainment’s runaway hit game Don’t Starve, a test of survival set in a darkly humorous, Edward Gorey-esque world filled with vicious hounds, creeping spiders, herds of stampeding Beefalo and slimy fish men.
Now you can get in on the action on iPhone, as the desktop game just became a universal app called Don’t Starve: Pocket Edition.
It’s a bit late in the game, but YouTube has the resources and brand-name cache to take on video game streaming juggernaut, Twitch, as it turns on the lights of its much anticipated game streaming service Wednesday.
YouTube Gaming is the new portal, separate from the Google-owned video giant’s regular video website, that will aim to capture the flags, hearts and minds of gaming’s streaming technorati, some of whom can make upwards of $8,000 per month just letting people watch them play video games.
Twitch is the 800-pound gorilla of the video game streaming world; in fact, YouTube tried to buy the service sometime before Amazon snapped it up. Will YouTube bring in both current customers as well as crushing Twitch in the process?
Mobile games — especially those with a multiplayer component — are making more money than traditional handheld games, says a new report by mobile analytics agency, App Annie. The company partnered with the International Data Corporation to show the growth in mobile gaming over the past year, and how it’s skews toward mobile and multiplayer gaming.
Poor console makers; they hardly knew what hit them. While they still have life in them, and the games tend to be deeper and of a higher quality, it seems as if most gamers would rather just play on the device they already have with them; their iPhone or iPad.
SAN FRANCISCO — After his best friend deemed it impossible to make a fun game using the oversaturated staples of mobile gaming — match three, tower defense and zombies — indie developer Jake Sones made a bet.
Now Sones and his three-person team at Shovelware Games are ready to win that bet with upcoming game Zombie Match Defense, which makes players defend a row of scientists against an attacking horde of zombies by matching three or more brains of the same type. It’s as if Plants vs. Zombies and Candy Crush had a goofy baby and invaded your iPad.
SAN FRANCISCO — Crossy Road developers Andy Sum and Matt Hall never set out to rake in a pile of cash. They did, however, want to create a popular game.
“We wanted to make the next Flappy Bird,” said Sum at the duo’s Game Developers Conference session here Tuesday.
“But our goal wasn’t to make money,” added Hall.
And yet make money they did. While Crossy Road hasn’t hit Flappy Bird levels of success (or notoriety), it pulled in 50 million downloads — on iOS, Android and Amazon — during the game’s first 90 days. It also generated $10 million for Hipster Whale, Sum and Hall’s development company.
Not bad for a game that was originally named Roadkill Simulator 2014.
If the sheer volume of tower defense games on the App Store is any indication, people (and developers) love them. Defending your base against endless hordes of creeps is a wonderful way to spend some gaming time on your portable device; they’re not super twitch-dependent, and they definitely encourage the zen-like focus a lot of us enjoy when playing games.
Add a hot property like Star Wars to the mix, and you’ve got a game full of potential. Rebels and Stormtroopers in a tower defense game? Sign me up!
This is, however, a Mobage/DeNA free-to-play joint, so it’s hard to tell exactly whether it will be a compelling bit of playtime, or just another way to spam your friends with social media requests. The pre-release sign up allows you to earn some points to be used in-game already; this does not bode well, even with a Star Wars branding.
That said, I’m still pretty excited about playing this game. Check out the developer diary below to see if you’re just as excited.
Back in August, a new game arrived in the iOS App Store and almost immediately vanished without a trace.
“I received a few great reviews from news sites, but not enough to have an impact,” says Robert Topala, founder of RobTop Games and developer of the disappearing game. “Since I had no marketing budget it quickly dropped in rankings after release.”
For most games that would have been it. And if the story stopped there, it wouldn’t have been a tale of total failure: Topala wasn’t a professional coder, and had only been making mobile games for a couple years at the time. Simply finishing a game, getting it in the App Store and picking up a few accolades would have been nice enough.
Games make up more than 65 percent of downloads in the App Store and Google Play, and a whopping 90 percent of mobile gaming revenue is generated by a freemium business model, according to Bertrand Schmitt, CEO of App Annie.
These are just two of the insights that came from a trends panel at the Game Developers Conference last month in San Francisco. The panel also included folks from gaming engine Unity and publisher/developer Pocket Gems.
Developer Crytek, known for top-shelf console and PC games like Far Cry and Crysis, is coming to the mobile space with its first free-to-play game for Android and iOS, The Collectables. The game is published by mobile powerhouse DeNA, using its Mobage mobile games platform which allows the game to release on multiple mobile devices and systems.
The game is coming soon for free on Google Play and the iTunes App Store, and it’s based on Crytek’s proprietary CryEngine graphics technology, bringing a new level of visual performance to the mobile gaming space. The Collectables has both tactical and action-based mechanics, letting you lead a squad of unlikely heroes on missions around the globe.
Finnish developer and all-around success story Rovio Entertainment announced Monday a new cross-over collaboration with Korean-based GungHo Entertainment, the makers of the almost as highly successful match-three mobile game, Puzzles and Dragons.
The pissed-off avians will show up in the popular role-playing/color matching mashup as an Angry Birds-themed dungeon from November 18 through December 1 of this year. You’ll get to challenge the Angry Birds as enemies in the dungeon, in contrast to their hero role in the Rovio-produced titles.


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Winnie Harlow has called out The Evening Standard for calling her a “vitiligo sufferer” in a caption under a photograph of her in a bikini.
On her Instagram, the 23-year-old model shared with her 3 million followers her thoughts on being someone whose vitiligo is being fetishised as suffering.
“I’m not a ‘Vitiligo Sufferer’. I’m not a ‘Vitiligo model’. I am Winnie. I am a model. And I happen to have Vitiligo. Stop putting these titles on me or anyone else. I am not suffering! If anything I’m succeeding at showing people that their differences don’t make them who they are,” she wrote.
Vitiligo, a condition where pale white patches develop on the skin, is rarely represented in fashion shoots. Harlow previously told HuffPost UK she believes people we rely too much on magazines to tell us what beauty is, when we need to learn that at home.
“What’s more important is what a family allows a child to see,” she said. “So for me, when I grew up we still didn’t have much internet and we still didn’t have black dolls. So my mum would go out of her way to find those dolls and bring them into the house to show me that there was someone who looks like you.
“And it’s not like she only bought me black dolls or dolls with curly hair. She still bought me blonde and blue-eye dolls in order to instill in me that there wasn’t supposed to be a segregation.”
In her Instagram post aimed at The Evening Standard she added: “All our differences are a part of who we are but they don’t define us! Do you see me suffering? The only thing I’m suffering from are your headlines and the closed minds of humans who have one beauty standard locked into their minds.”
The photo of Harlow featured in the newspaper was taken on the beach in Dubai. She added: “The beach was damn fine that day, nothing to suffer about”.
HuffPost UK has contacted the Evening Standard for comment and will update this article upon their response.


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Ohio farmers poised to meet China’s needs
World’s largest country not able
to feed its people, looks to U.S. for food and feed
By GARY BROCK
There isn’t one thing Ohio farmers need to know about China’s affect on Ohio agriculture. There are two.
And while Ohio State University’s retired international agriculture economist Dr. Allan Lines says Ohio farmers are all too familiar with the affect China has on the price of corn and soybeans they receive — most Ohioans are not aware of two more important factors in the “Ohio — China Connection” that will impact the future of Ohio farming.
“Ohio farmers need to be more aware of the behemoth that constitutes Chinese agricultural production, eclipsing most other countries in the world in the production of many commodities, and doing it on a limited amount of land” Dr. Lines said.
The second factor, and the one that will have a major impact on the future of American farming, is what Dr. Lines says is the “changing diets” in the world’s largest country.
China’s population is approximately 1.35 billion people — almost one out of four people on Earth. That population’s eating habits are changing, brought on in part by America’s importing “fast food” restaurants by the thousands in the last two decades and a rising economy. As a result, Dr. Lines says Chinese citizens are eating less grain, fewer vegetables and more meat.
When rolled together, the limited amount of land and the increasing need for “animal protein” in China will cause a huge jump in agricultural imports from the United States to China in coming years.
“Ohio farmers need to better understand the limits to farm production in China — land, water and the environment,” Dr. Lines said.
It may surprise many Ohioans that China, the world’s largest nation in land mass, is mostly desert. In fact, he says that China’s “tillable” land is about two-thirds of the United States’ available land for farming.
“If you go west of Beijing, you move into a desert region,” he said. “And that desert region is moving east.” He said this was partly caused by climate change and partly by mismanagement of the Mongolian plains area. He said years ago, Russia tried to transform this huge region in a new “wheat belt” — with disastrous results. The region dried up, and is expanding.
Dr. Lines also said China has serious air quality problems and very serious water quality problems. However, he adds that China’s government is denying it has any of these problems. So the problems aren’t going away any time soon.
And then there is the change in diet of the Chinese people. It is that change, coupled with growing restrictions on China’s ability to farm its own land, that will create great opportunities for Ohio’s farmers.
“Up until the 1980s, the Chinese people were essentially vegetarians. The start of the change was switching from rice boiled in water to rice cooked with soy oil,” he said.
What caused the biggest change in this Communist-run society was American Capitalism. As American companies began buying more inexpensive products from China, the incomes of Chinese workers began to rapidly increase (at least comparably). And for the first time, the average Chinese citizen could afford to buy something that in the past was an unobtainable luxury — meat.
And buy it they did, according to Dr. Lines. “It started with chicken, pork and eggs and has progressed to dairy and beef,” he said. He added that today, Chinese children consume as much milk and dairy products as American children — unheard of 20 years ago.
But China does not have the capability of providing the cattle, hogs and chicken with the roughage — the quality feed needed to produce quality meat protein. China cannot produce enough corn to feed its livestock.
And consider this: China produces 53,747 thousand metric tons of meat each year. That ranks it number one in the world, and that still is not enough to satisfy its citizens’ desires for meat protein.
Dr. Lines said the Chinese government has now done something very smart — it has decided that there are some things easier to buy abroad than to try to produce itself. But also, the Chinese government picked farm produce that no one country has a monopoly in. That way, no foreign country can hold supply and prices over their heads.
For example, soybeans. Ironically, soybeans come from China, but they have essentially given up growing it in favor of importing it from other countries. But America has no monopoly on soybean production. If we don’t keep costs low and quality high, China can go to Brazil, Argentina, eastern Europe or Africa. The same applies to cotton. And wheat.
However, at present the United States does have a monopoly on corn production worldwide. Dr. Lines says that is why China is emphasizing corn production in its own country to fight the American monopoly. He said at present China produced about two-thirds of the U.S.’s 165 bushels of corn per acre average.
Dr. Lines said the other big change taking place in Chinese agriculture is the shift from backyard livestock production (animals subsisting on farm and household waste) to intensified “western-style” animal production. These modern systems will require immense amounts grains, grain products, soybeans and soy products – amounts beyond China’s capacity to produce. This includes beef, pork, dairy and poultry production.
So, with all the growing needs from a hungry world, especially China, what advice does Dr. Lines give Ohio farmers to take advantage of this growing need?
Here is what he suggests:
1. Ohio farmers need to keep producing more and more soybeans and corn;
2. They must continue to be the low cost producer of soybeans and corn;
3. Farmers must make sure they lay the plans for efficient farm management so that the crops are produced with no waste of energy, time or money;
4. Farmers need to spend more time developing systems to produce low cost and high quality meat products — with an emphasis on dairy, pork and chicken;
5. When China looks abroad for produce, it is looking for high quality. “Get the food to them in the manner they want,” said Dr. Lines;
6. Remember that people are people, and the Chinese people are like everyone else — they like meat;
7. Americans, Ohio farmers, need to “get into China with a strong marketing program” to push our agriculture products;
8. Provide a high-quality resource the Chinese cannot produce, but need. For Ohio farmers, that could be alfalfa. It is high-quality alfalfa that the Chinese will need more of in the future for their livestock (See related story.)
For Dr. Lines, what is the bottom line for Ohio farmers as they look to provide more exports of produce to China?
“The over-arching story is — the world’s largest agricultural producer with rising incomes and increased animal protein consumption cannot now and will not be able to feed itself in the future.”
(Gary Brock is editor of ACRES of Southwest Ohio.)